Elliot Page in Manchester for "Pageboy"

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On Monday night I went to the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester to see Elliot Page talk about his memoir, "Pageboy". He was in conversation with the gay actor Russell Tovey. The first half was questions from Tovey, then during the interval they put up a QR code which allowed audience members to submit questions for vetting, and vote on others'. The second half was Tovey asking these questions.

There was some interesting trivia - Elliot has never seen a Bond film, and likes karaoke post-transition - but no earth-shattering revelations. What did come across clearly though is confirmation that he's a decent human, aware of his position of privilege as a white, rich trans guy. He was keen to pay tribute to the trans people, particularly women and people of colour, who came before him and who still struggle more than he does.

Afterwards, on the way to the pub with friends, one of them mentioned that our ticket stubs entitled us to a free copy of the memoir. So I headed back to the Bridgewater Hall, and just caught the stall as it was being taken down. I returned to the pub with three copies of the book, for me and the people I'd been with, feeling victorious.

Compared to the Q&A, the memoir is heavy going. It's not a difficult read - I devoured half of it very quickly before getting distracted. But the subject matter is deep. Tovey described it as an "exploration of the power of shame", and it certainly feels like that, describing Elliot struggling to fit into the world of a straight, cis Hollywood actress. However, it also explores liberation from that shame, and how his journey to self-realisation has helped him start to escape these expectations and feelings. I'm looking forward to finishing it.